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Self-proclaimed ‘Robin Hood’ tries to rob, shoot man during sham drug deal arranged on Snapchat

Posted at 5:51 PM, Oct 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-25 19:51:34-04

OREM, Utah -- A drug deal went wrong in Orem after police say a self-proclaimed "Robin Hood" tried to rob and shoot a man looking to buy marijuana.

Lt. Craig Martinez with the Orem Police Department says it happened Monday around 3 p.m.

“We got a call from a witness, a bystander, regarding a possible shooting that had occurred,” Martinez said.

When police arrived on scene at the Villa D'Este Apartments, they found a .45-caliber shell casing on the ground, but they didn’t have a victim and this may have been the reason why:

“Our victim hopped on to Snapchat looking to purchase some illegal drugs,” Martinez explains.

That’s right. A drug deal done on Snapchat, but it turns out the alleged drug dealer had no intention of selling any drugs.

“The intentions of the suspect was to rob the victim of his money," Martinez said. "He put some laundry detergent into a bag so that it weighed about a pound because our victim was looking to purchase about a pound of marijuana."

Police say the reason was some kind of vigilante justice.

“He was claiming to be kind of the 'Robin Hood,'", Martinez said. "He doesn’t like drug dealers so he doesn’t want people out there peddling drugs so he was going to take him of his money so he didn’t have the ability to purchase any more drugs and possibly sell them."

When the victim wanted to see what he was buying, 21-year-old Pelenise Taouma fired two shots, but nobody was hurt and the victim drove off.

It may seem strange, but police say using Snapchat to buy and sell drugs is a trend these days.

“We think it’s so popular because people think they send out a snap and 30 seconds later it’s gone and deleted and nobody can find it," Martinez said. "Well that’s just not true."

Police remind people that our phones are like mini computers and technology makes it hard to keep anything under wraps.

“They think because it’s gone, it’s gone forever, but just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean we can’t,” Martinez said.

Tacoma is facing several charges including a felony count of attempted aggravated murder.